Obama pitches Chicago 2016 (Olympics)

[sabra]

Source: ABCLocal7

CHICAGO (WLS) -- President-Elect Barack Obama has taken time away from picking a cabinet and planning his administration to record a new pitch for Chicago's Olympic bid.

ABC 7 News has learned Obama's message will be played at an important gathering of nearly 40 European members of the International Olympic Committee Friday in Turkey.

On the tape, the president-elect talks of his commitment to bringing the games to Chicago in 2016 -- and his belief that the Olympics can help improve struggling neighborhoods in the city.

Mayor Daley flies to Istanbul Thursday evening where he will personally present the city's bid. Daley hopes, as president, Obama will join the Chicago delegation for its final pitch to the IOC in Copenhagen in October.

Read more: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6516205

[WI_DEM]

1. Great idea! what a way for Obama to end his second term as president by welcoming

the world to his hometown in 2016 for the Olympics.

[ClarkUSA]

2. It's as good as a done deal. The IOC/NBC will like the ratings bonanza of an Obama Olympics.

Better book hotel rooms now.

[sledgehammer]

10. It would also be his last year as Prez...

...assuming he gets re-elected in 2012 :) . If he truly lives up to his promise, and through his efforts America and the world see better days by that point, it will be his official lap of honor.

[ClarkUSA]

18. Exactly... and the IOC are suckers for the symbolism and romance of it all.

The prospect of sky-high ratings and huge ad revenue probably doesn't hurt, either. :)

[sledgehammer]

22. Yep! And one more good thing if USA gets the Olympics is...

...that NBC (or whoever gets the rights) will finally show events LIVE!!! Like the rest of the world does. 2008 was shameful. Every country showed Phelps and Bolt making history live. Except the United States of General Electric.

For the first time ever, I envied those living near the Canadian border! Some of them got to watch CBC's live coverage.

[ClarkUSA]

24. Absolutely.

It's Asia's turn to watch the 12-hour delay. Heh.

I plan to attend and will book rooms as soon as the decision is made (I've already made inquiries).

[CatholicEdHead]

28. No, NBC will delay the big things again to prime-time

More will be live on cable, but there will still be some delay even if it is in North America time zones.

[WillParkinson]

3. NOOOOOOO!

That would cause chaos in Milwaukee. Our hotel would be filled to capacity and we'd have way too many people here.

(OK, fine, my reasoning is pathetic, but I had to suffer through the All-Star game. Wasn't that enough?)

[apnu]

4. As a Chicagoian, I'm very excited about this.

Yes hosting the Olympics is a daunting task for the city. The amount of construction that will have to happen and the inconvenience on the whole city, not to mention the displacement of citizens will be costly, difficult, and, in some cases, totally unfair.

But the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a host city (That isn't LA) is an amazing thing. I look forward to this happening. I have every intention to be a host family for somebody coming here for the games, and I would love to show my son (who will be 10 when the games happen) about the hope and inspiration that the games bring. I think hosting the Olympics is a very teachable moment for my son.

[Renew Deal]

8. Can Soldier Field be used as an Olympic stadium?

I wonder if there's room for a full size track and soccer field.

[apnu]

15. I would love that, but the plans call for entirely new construction in west Chicago

They want to raze several down trodden neighborhoods and build whole new, state-of-the-art facilities there. razzing neighborhoods is nothing new in Chicago's history. It is something of a nasty history we have. Chicago, is constantly, in a state of gentrification somewhere. The city, seemingly, allows neighborhoods to go to hell, then when property values drop enough, big time developers come in and displace the low-income residents to some other part of the city, and then rebuild that neighborhood.

Cabrini Green is a good modern-day example of this, typically, Chicagoian habit.

[WriteDown]

23. All my friends who lived in Chicago....

give very similar accounts.

[sledgehammer]

13. I lived in Atlanta...

...from 1994 to early 2000s. I saw the city change in the face of the Olympics. Universities got new facilities, some very rough neighborhoods were improved drastically, people became aware of public transport (yes, Atlanta does have a half-decent system), roads were improved, city was cleaned up, airport was upgraded (now the busiest in the world), downtown became a destination again, city residents were completely energized, etc.

Atlanta's boom in the years following was not entirely coincidental - the Olympics put the city on the map.

The execution of the Olympics was definitely below par, but the impact was good overall. What I like best is the use of existing facilities, and the reuse of nearly all the purpose-built facilities.

I won't ignore the bad side of the Olympics. Specifically, many people were forcibly displaced and I have no idea how they fared post-Olympics (probably not well, I expect). No low-cost housing was made available after the Games. Not enough improvements were made to the public transport system. Chicago can learn from those mistakes.

My one piece of advice to Chicago - shut down all non-essential business in the city for two weeks. Atlanta tried to make the Games and normal worklife peacefully co-exist. Did not happen!

[Phred42]

5. As a Suburban Chicagoian who lives 3 miles from the proposed Equestrian venue

PHUCK NO!

:mad:

Unfortunately for this town I believe the IOC will give this to Obama

What a clusterphuck it will be around here. Here, some of the local thoughts on this:

http://www.c-speaks.com/mundelein/archives/category/pdev/olympic-equestrian-complex

[Renew Deal]

7. Yes, 2 weeks of games for billions in improvements is a "clusterfuck."

The Olympics would be the best thing to happen to Chicago in ages. The city would be renovated. You'll get new roads, new buildings, new low income housing, new attractions, and a renewed reputation.

[WriteDown]

9. And any homeless person....

will likely be shipped away to parts unknown. Also, expect eminent domain to be used liberally. Seen it first hand with Jerryland(Cowboy's new stadium) down here in Arlington.

[Renew Deal]

11. No one is being shipped anywhere.

But they probably would be herded into shelters. Any city would do those things.

[Phred42]

12. ....and stuck with the bill

The Olympics haven't paid for themselves since LA.

[Renew Deal]

14. Maybe, maybe not

The Olympics don't always make their money back at the games, but they usually pay off long term. Either way, the Olympics are worth the money. They are one of the most unique, special things a city can do. There is nothing quite as magnificent as the Olympics. Not even the World Cup, and certainly no non-sporting events.

[WriteDown]

16. Superbowl. NT.

[Renew Deal]

17. Compared to the Olympics?

Are you kidding? They don't even compare.

[WriteDown]

21. Uh....

Anything without the IOC is immeasurably better.

[riderinthestorm]

29. The equestrian events??! I'm an equestrian and there's no way your city will be over run

with the number of "equestrian" spectators and events that MAY over take your area. This isn't track and field or gymnastics, it's one of the smaller draws. And it would be very, very beneficial for Lake Co.

I sincerely, desperately hope that one of the major teams chooses my farm as their home base. It would help my business enormously, and boost this DUers revenue please, oh please, oh please. My family and I are prepared to camp to ensure a foreign team's accessibility, and to ensure our bottom line.

[Renew Deal]

6. Hopefully Chicago will be smarter about this than NY was.

NYers that opposed the Olympics were profoundly short sighted and dumb.

[ClarkUSA]

19. As I recall, Mayor Bloomberg gave a disjointed/lousy presentation and no good plan to pay for it.

King Bloomberg arrogantly and abrasively tried to ram it down the throats of New Yorkers, the City Council and Democratic
State Legislators as a fait accompli and had as much luck as Hillary did with healthcare when she used a similar approach.
I doubt Team O will allow that to happen. Mayor Daley is 100x better pol than Bloomberg and knows how to win friends
and influence enemies. Besides, with Team O behind him, how could Chicagoans say no?

[Renew Deal]

20. The stadium issue was the killer.

When the stadium fell threw, the rest of the plan fell apart. It was a huge mistake.

[ClarkUSA]

25. Yup.

It's a shame. Hopefully, New York will get another chance after Bloomberg serves out his third term.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

26. Too close to the Vancouver games for another North American city to win

I suspect they will goto Rio de Janeiro in 2016,

[rdmtimp]

27. It'll be 6 years after Vancouver....

Same time as between Atlanta in 1996 and Salt Lake in 2002.

Chicago's definitely the front-runner.